Many athletic games such as basketball, football, soccer, volleyball, and the like rely upon the use of an inflated, resilient ball. Improper inflation of the ball adversely affects the play and quality of the game. Typically, game balls are inflated through the use of a separate pump employed in combination with an inflation needle. However, it very often occurs that in the course of play, a player will find that a game ball is not properly inflated; and very often, such a traditional pump/needle assembly is not available, particularly if play is taking place in an informal location.
The prior art has recognized this problem and has developed game balls which include an integral, manually operated pump. Such ball/pump assemblies are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,409,618, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. While such combination ball/pump assemblies do address the problem of improperly inflated game balls, they rely upon the use of integral pump assemblies which are expensive and do not address the problem of improper inflation with regard to presently existing balls. In addition, it has been found that in some instances inclusion of the integral pump affects the balance and play of the ball.
As will be explained hereinbelow, the present invention comprises an athletic shoe which includes an integral air pump configured and operable to use for the inflation of game balls or other items at a location exterior of said shoe. The pump of the present invention does not affect the comfort or action of the shoe. These and other advantages of the invention will be apparent from the drawings, discussion, and description which follow.